In Cherkasy, a UOC congregation was evicted from a hospital chapel for refusing to join the OCU

The administration of the Third Cherkasy City Hospital decided not to renew the lease agreement with the parish of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC), which for two decades had been providing pastoral care to patients and conducting divine services at the church dedicated to St. Luke the Apostle. The conflict arose because the community’s rector, Archimandrite Victor, refused to transfer to the jurisdiction of the OCU.

The official explanation given by the hospital administration was the need to free up space for the “proper organization of staff work.” However, according to representatives of the parish, during a private conversation, the chief physician explicitly set a condition: if the UOC clergyman transferred to the OCU, the lease agreement would be renewed under the previous terms. After the rector’s categorical refusal, the agreement was terminated.

As a reminder, we previously reported that employees of the Third City Hospital in Cherkasy held a meeting at which a decision was made to transfer the hospital chapel dedicated to the Apostle Luke—which had been established by the Cherkasy Diocese of the UOC—to the control of the OCU.